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And Then This Happened: Drama on the High Lines

Buoyed by low gas prices and spurred on by Caleb Strand (this post is dedicated to you, buddy!), I have yet to take a direct drive anywhere this winter as hordes of Snowy Owls are on the loose, causing me to have dust-caked vehicles from all that backroads travelin’. On January 2nd, I found a Snowy Owl right outside Willmar. Since then I have driven around that general area numerous times while running errands in the hopes of relocating it. Tiring of that routine, I changed things up a bit this weekend and began hiking some unbirded wildlife management areas in an effort to get some exercise and contribute some data to eBird. On one outing at Kandi WMA, I saw a raptor land in a tree over 200 yards away. I used my camera to zoom in so I could make the ID. I was pleasantly surprised to look at my picture and see a Great Horned Owl, which is always a fun find.

But this morning after I dropped Evan off at school, I was again tempted to take the long way home in the hopes of refinding that Willmar Snowy. So I did take the long way, and this time I finally refound the all-white, male Snowy again since I last saw it over a week ago. With no camera on me at the time, I vowed to return later in the day to get some photos. After all, it was a beautiful sunny day with clear blue skies – a great day to photograph a white bird.

So Marin and I went back this afternoon and found the Snowy in short order. I got out and took a couple photos.

Despite the fact that I was on the ground, he didn’t mind me and appeared a bit distracted as he gazed west, even alarmed…

The owl flushed just after I took this photo. I was cursing myself because I assumed I had flushed it. The owl was flying east right along MN Hwy 23, going far, far away. I had to go that direction anyway, so I hopped back in the car and began driving, following it to see where it would finally land.

And then this happened – a second Snowy Owl flew over my vehicle from behind! All of the sudden I was tracking two flying Snowy Owls! I decided to focus my attention on this new bird which was much closer. It perched on a pole on the minimum maintenance road, 30th St. SW, so I pulled up close to it so I could take some pictures. As I did so, I spotted the first Snowy Owl about a half mile further east on another pole. Amazing. Two Snowy Owls in Willmar, together, and both all-white males. Since I was currently by Snowy #2, I began snapping away. These two birds could have been identical twins; the only difference I found in my pictures is that Snowy #1 had very light barring on his belly, indicating a younger bird. Snowy #2 had a pure white belly.

But this guy appeared distracted too, looking in the direction of the other Snowy Owl a half mile to the east.

Then he took off. Again I cursed myself, thinking my presence caused him to scram. As I watched, though, he was flying right toward Snowy #1. I started driving again so I could get closer to the action. As I was watching through the windshield, it looked like he was going to pull up on the next pole to Snowy #1! Then some SNOW drama unfolded before my very eyes. No, Snowy #2 was not, in fact, going to the next pole; he was instead going straight for Snowy #1’s pole! Sensing a potential butt-whooping, Snowy #1 hopped off the pole and landed briefly on the wire. Not good enough for Snowy #2. Talons out, Snowy #2 came screeching in and made contact in the air with an alarmed Snowy #1, sending him packing to the east in a hurry. Snowy #2 promptly then landed on the pole that Snowy #1 had just warmed up for him and began surveying his turf.

“Who you callin’ #2?”

I never did see Snowy #1 set down – he was over a mile away before I lost sight of him. I could not believe what I had just witnessed. Birding continually surprises me. Looking at photos, it appears that Snowy #2 is the same owl I had found on January 2nd. Here’s a photo from that day.

If that’s the case, his behavior today made sense in that he has probably staked out a winter territory and was having nothing to do with a younger male owl encroaching on his territory. Whatever the case, these are exciting times which may call for a Kandiyohi County Snowy Owl roundup to see just how many birds are wintering here. Stay tuned!

2 thoughts on “And Then This Happened: Drama on the High Lines”

WOW Mr. Josh, just WOW!!! I can’t wait until I start driving. I will make sure that Kandiyohi County is one of my stops, and I’m not talking about a day stop, I’m talking about a whole week of staring at owls all day and all night long! Great photos of the SNOW, and GHOWs are always awesome to see. SNOW and GGOW are definatly on my top 10 list of birds I want to see if not in the top 5. Can GGOW and SNOW be seen in the relatively same area, or do they prefer totaly different habitat?

GGOW and SNOW prefer very different habitats. SNOW are found in open farm country, especially where the topography is very flat; I suppose such places resemble their native tundra. Much of MN (southern MN, west-central MN, and NW MN) is this type of terrain. They also commonly turn up at metro airports in other parts of the state because of all the open, grassy areas that airports provide in an urban landscape.

GGOW are owls of the deep coniferous forests, particularly dense Tamarack and Black Spruce bog areas. In MN, this type of habitat occurs in the northeastern part of the state.

Don’t let Kandiyohi Co. fool you – this is an irruptive year, so SNOW are found all throughout MN. It’s not normally like that. In fact, a friend of mine waited nearly ten years to get his Kandiyohi SNOW. Your best bet for nabbing a SNOW and GGOW in close proximity would be the twin port harbor cities of Duluth, MN and Superior, WI on Lake Superior. GGOWS are found close to Duluth, and the Snowies are regular wintering birds at the airports and harbor areas of Duluth/Superior. Plus, then you could get a Northern Hawk Owl and possibly a Boreal Owl too!